He bestrode America's 20th-century cultural landscape like a colossus, churning out an idealised cartoon vision of reality that influenced the world. He was kindly 'Uncle Walt', the amiable old man all American children loved like a member of their own family. Now a new biography of Walt Disney has cast a fresh light on one of the most elusive characters of modern American history. The picture that has emerged is far from the genial figure of legend. Disney has emerged as a troubled man, a lonely and reclusive depressive. He also notoriously ill-treated his staff and close friends and was a ferociously right-wing anti-communist during the Forties and Fifties. The book, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, was written by Neal Gabler, who received unprecedented access to records about Disney. He is the first author to get the Disney family's permission to examine fully the complete Disney archives. ... http://observer.guardian.co.uk

A former doctor in Japan's World War II navy says he was ordered to perform medical experiments on Filipino prisoners before they were executed. Akira Makino, 84, told Kyodo news agency he performed surgery and amputations on condemned prisoners, including women and children. Japan's imperial forces are believed to have carried out medical experiments on prisoners captured in China. Few Japanese veterans have spoken of atrocities committed during the war. The BBC's Chris Hogg says most want to put the past behind them and they have had little encouragement from the authorities to offer an account of what happened. Mr Makino's testimony is believed to be the first account from a Japanese veteran of the war in south-east Asia describing medical experiments on prisoners. Mr Makino was stationed on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines during World War II. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6185442.stm

Iraq's leaders promised Sunday to track down those responsible for the war's deadliest attack by insurgents, and urged the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians to stop fanning sectarian violence by arguing with one another. "We promise the great martyrs that we will chase the killers and criminals, the terrorists, Saddamists and Takfiri (Sunni extremists) for viciously trying to divide you," the country's top politicians said in a statement Sunday, referring to the 215 people who died when Sunni insurgents attacked Sadr City, the capital's main Shiite district, on Thursday. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh read the statement on national television as Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Sunni Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Kurdish President Jalal Talabani stood around him. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/26/iraq/main2208881.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2208881

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have said they are committed to a ceasefire agreed for the Gaza Strip, despite Palestinian rockets landing in Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel will show "patience and restraint", al1though the rockets were fired from Gaza after the truce began. Mr Olmert said he hoped the ceasefire would also be applied to the West Bank. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said all Palestinian groups had made clear that they stood behind the ceasefire. "Contacts were made with the political leaderships of the factions and there is a reaffirmation of the commitment of what has been agreed to," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Haniya as saying. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered his security forces to enforce the truce. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6185380.stm

The insurgency in Iraq is now self-sustaining financially, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, connivance by corrupt Islamic charities and other crimes that the Iraqi government and its American patrons have been largely unable to prevent, a classified United States government report has concluded. The report, obtained by The New York Times, estimates that groups responsible for many insurgent and terrorist attacks are raising $70 million to $200 million a year from illegal activities. It says $25 million to $100 million of that comes from oil smuggling and other criminal activity involving the state-owned oil industry, aided by “corrupt and complicit” Iraqi officials. As much as $36 million a year comes from ransoms paid for hundreds of kidnap victims, the report says. It estimates that unnamed foreign governments — previously identified by American officials as including France and Italy — paid $30 million in ransom last year....http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/world/middleeast/26insurgency.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Against a backdrop of spiralling violence in Baghdad, The Times persuaded six ordinary Iraqis to visit its bureau to describe their lives. Sunni or Shia, they all had a strikingly similar tale to tell. Saad was a conscript in Saddam’s army when US tanks rolled into Baghdad in April 2003. He deserted, went home and celebrated with his family. “We were dancing. I felt like I was reborn,” he said. He dreamt of getting a job at the airport that might let him travel. Today the eyes of this thin young man brim with tears as he recounts what actually happened. The Americans launched an effort to clear up the rubbish around the capital. Saad risked the charge of collaboration by taking a job as a street cleaner in the Rashid district of west Baghdad for a meagre $5 a day. That was dangerous enough, but the work became even more perilous when insurgents began seeding roads with improvised explosive devices disguised as rubbish. ...http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2470188,00.html